Naheed Nenshi for mayor — of everywhere

On the whole, the behaviour of Canada’s mayors has been less than illustrious lately.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is still struggling with the fallout from those allegations of crack cocaine use — just the latest item in his long list of blunders. Without listing them all (who’s got time?) I’ll just mention my favourite: Emptying two city buses at rush hour so they could pick up the high school football team he was coaching. In comparison, the allegation that London Mayor Joe Fontana used government funds to pay for his son’s wedding seems pedestrian.

Montreal is the undisputed champion these days when it comes to civic sleaze. First, Gérald Tremblay stepped down as mayor following allegations that he knew about illegal campaign spending and financing happening in his own party. Then his replacement, Michael Applebaum, was hit last month with 14 criminal charges relating to two separate alleged criminal conspiracies.

With those sorts of headlines, watching how Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi has been handling the city’s post-flood clean-up is a breath of fresh air.

Nenshi has always seemed like a somewhat quirky pick for mayor of Calgary. He and Ford were both elected around the same time in 2010, and one might be forgiven for wondering if there had been some sort of mix-up. Somehow, Toronto ended up with the boorish, bombastic cost-cutter — and Calgary got the social media star in nerd-chic glasses.

Calgarians have been fans ever since.

In the aftermath of the worst flooding Calgary has ever seen, Nenshi has proved that affection is not misplaced. During the worst hours of the flooding, Nenshi spent long hours awake monitoring the situation and keeping Calgarians informed. In addition to keeping communication lines open with traditional media, Nenshi was online constantly, tweeting real-time updates to keep citizens informed on how the flood was progressing.

Nenshi didn’t suddenly emerge as a leader during a crisis. He’s been leading Calgary for years now, doing the work that slides under the radar. It took the flooding, and the intense media attention that came with it, to showcase the leadership skills that were his all along.

He was calm, competent and inspirational throughout — but now and again some classic Calgary attitude shone through. During a televised address, he saved some choice words for individuals boating on the flooded river: “I can’t believe I actually have to say this, but I’m going to say it. The river is closed … I’m not allowed to invoke the Darwin Law.”

Against all odds, the Calgary Stampede started up on July 5 as planned, and Mayor Nenshi was there to kick things off. This year, though, the flooding is not far from the minds of people out partying — and they’re not afraid to celebrate the man who, right now, might just be the most popular municipal politician in the country. (How many mayors see happy hipsters holding up larger-than-life images of their faces at concerts?)

Nenshi and his fans have managed the rare feat of making good governance into good headlines. Too often, politics and politicians only make headlines by misbehaving. No one wants to watch gifs of city council working well; people would much rather watch politicians implode.

The unfortunate side effect is that the good work politicians do is usually done behind the scenes, for little reward. The daily grind of meetings, answering letters and drafting reports makes no headlines and gets very little thanks, but it’s that work that allows the best politicians to succeed in times of crisis.

Nenshi, for example, has been making his mark as a communicator since his 2010 campaign. He’s particularly good at connecting with constituents online; by last year, he had 50,000 followers on Twitter, and that number has soared to more than 125,000 since the flooding. His skill with social media meant that while the waters were rising he was able to reach Calgarians who had cell phones, even if they didn’t have TV or computers within easy reach.

The lesson here is that good leaders put in the work long before a crisis hits. Preparing for a disaster like the Calgary floods might not be possible, but the groundwork that let Nenshi keep Calgarians in the loop in the midst of a natural disaster was laid long before the river crested its banks. More importantly, Nenshi’s work during and after the floods made it clear that he is deeply familiar with what makes Calgary tick. As a result, he was able to manage events as they came without ever seeming overwhelmed.

In other words, Nenshi didn’t suddenly emerge as a leader during a crisis. He’s been leading Calgary for years now, doing the work that slides under the radar. It took the flooding, and the intense media attention that came with it, to showcase the leadership skills that were his all along.

There are lots of politicians like him, all over the country, working hard outside the spotlight. Even when the headlines seem particularly bad, it’s worth remembering all the good work that doesn’t make the news.

Devon Black is studying law at the University of Victoria. In addition to writing for iPolitics, Devon has worked for the Canadian International Development Agency, Leadership Africa USA and RamRais & Partners.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.

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Devon Black is originally from Calgary. She spent five years in Ottawa working on her bachelor's degree in international development, then moved back out west in 2011 to start a law degree at the University of Victoria. In addition to writing for iPolitics, Devon has worked for the Canadian International Development Agency, Leadership Africa USA (a non-profit based in Washington, D.C.), and RamRais & Partners (an intellectual property law firm in Kuala Lumpur). For fun, Devon likes to argue competitively for the University of Victoria Debate Society and dance to hot jazz from the 1920s. When the weather's nice, you can find her roaming downtown Victoria in search of a good Earl Grey.